VI. Demolitions around Mezzeh airport, Damascus

Dates of demolitions: August, 2012;
December, 2012-March, 2013

Estimated area demolished: 41.6 hectares

February 4, 2013

July 14, 2013

Satellite imagery reviewed by
Human Rights Watch shows that a total of 41.6
hectares of buildings was demolished around
Mezzeh military airport, a military base in the southern Damascus suburbs,
which is base of the Air Force Intelligence Service, one of Syria’s four
main security services. According to the imagery, the demolitions took place mainly at some point between December 2012
and July 2013.[53] Limited demolitions took place also earlier, in August
2012.

When
interviewed about demolitions in Damascus Hussein Makhlouf, the governor of the
Damascus countryside to which the demolished areas around the Mezzeh airport
belong, referred to decree 66, which was issued by President Bashar al-Assad on
September 18, 2012.[54] The decree stipulates the
development of two areas with illegally constructed houses, one of which seems
to be the south-eastern side of the Mezzeh airport that was demolished.[55] Makhlouf said that demolitions would
soon be carried out in Daraya, Harasta and Yalda. Although the decree refers to
illegally built houses, Makhlouf in the interview said that the demolitions
were essential to drive out rebels, according to the article.

The Mezzeh military airport and
the adjacent demolished area link Damascus city and Daraya and Moadamiya, two
towns in the Damascus countryside known for being opposition strongholds.
Initial peaceful protests eventually turned into armed opposition and a
significant number of armed opposition fighters used the town to stage attacks
on government targets, including the airport. In August 2012, government forces
launched a massive offensive against the two towns, described as one of the
deadliest government assaults in the Syrian conflict up until that point.[56]

Satellite imagery shows that a
small number of buildings just north-east of the Mezzeh airport were demolished
in the same period as the August offensive, between August 22 and 26.[57] According to Yasser, a local resident interviewed by Human
Rights Watch, the demolished houses were located near military barracks, which
had come under attack by opposition fighters during the August clashes. Human
Rights Watch has not been able to interview witnesses to these demolitions and
more investigation is needed to determine whether this limited wave of
demolitions was a violation of international law.

The second, more significant, wave
of demolitions started in December 2012. According to Yasser, this phase
followed an opposition attack on a government checkpoint at a key intersection
on November 25 and killed all the soldiers there.[58] Yasser told Human Rights Watch that government forces
easily resumed control of the residential area immediately adjacent to the
airport called Khaleej.[59]

Yasser said that his father and
grandfather who were living in the Khaleej at the time fled the area on
November 25 as soon as they heard about the attack, fearing government
retaliation against the civilian population.[60] Yasser told Human Rights Watch that he believed that
around 3,000 buildings might have been demolished in total around the Mezzeh
airport.[61] Satellite imagery shows that all buildings in a triangle
between the airport and two roads to the south and east of the airport have
been demolished. Although it is difficult to establish the exact number,
satellite imagery indicates that several thousand buildings were demolished.[62]

Compared to the demolitions in the
Tadamoun neighborhood, for example, at least some of those around the Mezzah
airport appear to have been much less controlled and professional. Videos
posted on YouTube in February, 2013, show several buildings being demolished by
large uncontrolled explosions, throwing large pieces of building material
hundreds of meters into the air.[63]

While opposition attacks on the
Mezzeh military airport might have justified the government taking certain
measures, the demolition of hundreds of residential buildings appears to have
been disproportionate.

[55]“مرسوم
بإحداث
منطقتين
تنظيميتين في
نطاق محافظة
دمشق ضمن
المصور العام
للمدينة,”(“The creation of two organizational decrees in the province of
Damascus within the general scope of the City”), SANA state news agency, September 20, 2012, http://sana.sy/ara/2/2012/09/20/442479.htm(accessed January 9,
2014).